Momma
by SomewhereApart
Summary: The first time Cooper hears his son call Charlotte his Momma, they're brushing their teeth...


They're brushing their teeth the first time it happens.

Cooper had put Mason to bed twenty minutes earlier, while Charlotte showered off the stress of lawyers and moral dilemmas, and breaking the law for a friend just days after sending another to jail. She'd left the bathroom door unlocked, and he'd walked into a room that was hazy with steam and perfumed with lavender body wash and rosemary-mint shampoo.

She's dressed now, her hair leaving little damp spots on the cotton at her shoulders. Her face has been slathered with moisturizer, and nighttime eye cream, and something else from a bottle he's never bothered to read. All he knows is that by the end of her nighttime routine, her skin is always dewy, and perfect, and smelling vaguely of citrus.

The door is open to let the steam out, but he's still sweating slightly from the muggy heat from before as his mouth fills up with minty froth. The only sound is the buzz of Charlotte's electric toothbrush, until Mason appears at the door.

Cooper hears him before he sees him, and he's not sure he hears him correctly. Mason's voice is soft, almost tentative, and he says, "Momma?"

Charlotte freezes for a split-second, bent over the sink. Then she spits, pushes the power button on her toothbrush and swishes it under the water to rinse it and asks, "Yeah, baby?"

She licks a stray bit of toothpaste from her lip as Mason tells her, "I can't sleep. Can you read to me for a while?"

She smiles, tells him, "Of course," sets her toothbrush down, and leaves without another word.

Cooper is left standing there, dumb-founded, wondering if he heard that wrong. He means to ask her about it when she comes to bed, but she lingers in Mason's room for well over an hour, and Cooper is asleep when she climbs in beside him.

.:.

By morning, it's slipped his mind, and he doesn't think of it again until they're talking about which movie to watch on Saturday night. Mason is dead set on _Toy Story_, and Charlotte is trying to talk him into something else – anything else.

"What about _Star Wars_?"

"I've seen those already."

Her brows lift slightly, arms crossed over her chest. "All of 'em?"

Mason shrugs a shoulder. "I don't want to watch that tonight. I want _Toy Story_."

Cooper is tempted to weigh in and help her out, but truth be told, he likes watching them go toe-to-toe like this. It's affectionate, and exasperated, and he's honestly never sure who will break first. Tonight, he wants to know who wins.

"You ever see _The Goonies_?" she asks, and Mason lets out a long-suffering sigh.

"Come on, Momma, please," he draws out dramatically, and Cooper's heart thuds hard. He looks at Charlotte, watches her expression shift into something he can't quite define – she swallows, and fights to keep her scowl in place, sucking in a deep breath. She's not as thrown as he is by the endearment, but she's clearly not used to it either. "We can watch those later, but I really want to watch this one now."

He wiggles the DVD at her with a silly grin, but Cooper barely sees it. He's still watching his wife as she softens, her scowl melting into a smile before she reaches for the DVD and bops their son on the head with it. "Fine. _Toy Story_ it is."

He lets out a triumphant "yes!" and scampers over to the DVD player, and before Cooper can pull Charlotte aside, she's following after Mason, telling him to take it easy on the expensive electronics when he starts pushing the OPEN button over and over impatiently.

It isn't until they're all snuggled on the sofa, Mason sandwiched between them with a big bowl of popcorn in his lap, that Cooper gets a chance to grab Charlotte's attention. He taps her on the shoulder, and she looks at him over Mason's head. In the dim, blue light of the TV, he mouths _Momma_?

She presses her lips together, and he watches her eyes go just a little wet before she looks away just long enough to take another deep breath. Then she meets his eyes again and smiles, mouthing back, _Yeah_, with a disbelieving shake of her head.

Cooper glances at Mason pointedly, a silent question – this was his idea? He doesn't need an answer from her – he can see it all over her face, and he knows she'd never push for this with Mason. Not this soon after losing Erica.

Charlotte nods again in answer, then shifts, adjusting the blanket spread across their laps and stealing a handful of popcorn from Mason. His son tips his head to one side, letting it rest on his stepmom's – no, his Momma's – shoulder as the first scene of the movie blends into the second. Charlotte tips her head down, presses her face into Mason's hair for a second, then lifts it again and tosses a few kernels into her mouth, chewing them quietly while Mason crunches his loudly.

Cooper can't take his eyes off them.

The love he feels for them is staggering – an astronomical flood of emotion that leaves him stunned and breathless. Wrecked, in the very best way.

He misses the whole movie, spends all 77 minutes watching them, and as good as the movie is, as much as they enjoy it (even Charlotte, whether she'll admit it or not), he knows it doesn't hold a candle to the show he gets.

.:.

The next morning, he wakes first and rolls over, curling against Charlotte's back. He slides his hand around to her front, works it under her shirt and runs his fingertips lightly over her belly.

She squirms, ticklish, and grunts something unintelligible.

Cooper props himself up so he can see her face, and smirks. She's frowning petulantly, and he tickles over her belly again, then draws his touch up along her side, over her ribs.

Her wriggle is a little more violent this time, and she sends a clumsy hand back to shove at him.

Now that he knows she's awake enough to hear him, he leans in close and tells her, "Good morning, Momma."

She grins, and cracks an eye open, tilting her head back until she can see him. "You really love that, huh?" Her voice is scratchy, and sleepy, and she clears her throat and swallows.

"Mmhmm," he confirms, finding the crook of her neck with his mouth and planting a kiss there as his hand slides further to cup her breast. "I really do. Momma."

Charlotte shoves at his hand, suddenly scowling. "Do _not_ go makin' this dirty, Cooper Freedman. I'll never be able to look our kid in the eye again."

He smirks, pops a kiss against her lips, and mutters, "Fine." He tugs her shoulder just enough to get her flat on her back, and asks suggestively, "Can I make something else dirty, then?"

She swipes her tongue along her lip, sleepy eyes going warm and mischievous. "Oh, I think that could be arranged…" she tells him quietly, and before long _Momma_ is the last thing on their minds.


End file.
